An aircraft generally carries an on-board system for conserving flight data. The flight data is conserved for the purpose of making it possible, in the event of the aircraft suffering an accident, to identify the causes of the accident.
That data comprises data from sensors such as sensors of navigation parameters, like speed and altitude, and of operating parameters relating to certain pieces of equipment, such as the engines.
Thus, for example, the data may include temperatures taken on the engines, data associated with cabin pressurization, attitudes of the airplane (roll, pitching, yaw), and its heading, . . . .
The data-conservation system generally comprises a processor unit known as a flight data acquisition unit (FDAU) connected to a network of sensors serving to collect data, and to a secure recorder module known as a flight data recorder (FDR).
The data that is conserved may also include voice data and more particularly the conversations of the crew. The conservation system then includes a processor unit connecting the cockpit microphones to a secure recorder module known as a cockpit voice recorder (CVR).
A secure recorder module comprises a reinforced housing and a locating beacon arranged to transmit a signal enabling the so-called “black box” to be identified and enabling its content to be read after the aircraft carrying the data-conservation system has suffered an accident, or indeed has broken up.
In spite of that, recovering secure recorder modules requires large amounts of equipment and human resources to be deployed, particularly when the aircraft has crashed at sea, and sometimes the secure recorder modules cannot be recovered.